The present invention relates to therapeutic limb apparatus and more specifically to a stretchable therapeutic sleeve into which one or more hot or cool packs can be inserted for the treatment of or the prevention of injury of a limb.
Presently there exist many types of devices to be used with a cool or hot pack and then applied to an affected area of the human body.
Cold therapy is an established practice used in the medical profession to treat certain limb injuries. A few examples are sprained or strained arm or leg muscles or injuries to joints. Generally these types of injuries should be chilled to slow blood flow, which reduces swelling, pain and further damage.
Heat therapy is used, in other circumstances, to warm up or limber muscles by increasing blood flow.
The Hubbard U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,572 is directed to a medical/sports thermal pack. It has a first pocket and a second pocket connected together by a stretchable material. Therapeutic material holding bladders are insertable into the respective pockets.
The Tampa U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,932 is directed to a knee ice pack. It has a center compartment having a through opening intended to be aligned with the patella to preclude the patella from being subjected to the cooling effect of the ice.
The Natali U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,387 is directed to a cold pack for wrapping injured limbs and a method of making the same. It is made from two thermoplastic sheets of polyethylene material to provide a rectangular shape that has a small ice compartment defined at one of the rectangle's shorter sides. The opposite short side has a strip of adhesive covered with release paper.
The Turner U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,487 is directed to a flexible wrap for maintaining a thermal pack in heat transfer relation to the human anatomy. The thermal pack contains a quantity of liquid and filler particles which, when the liquid is frozen solid, produces a pliable thermal pack which conforms to contoured surfaces of the human body.
The Brunson et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,251 is directed to a therapeutic sleeve which can be secured to a patient's limb. It can be utilized with either a hot or cold pack.